INCH Hike: Bone Spur

1339. Bone Spur (04/25/26)

Hikers (0):
Distance: 19 miles
Rating: 4 difficulty, 8 beauty
Park info: Henry Coe State Park near Gilroy

Steve owes a writeup!

"We" got up very early at 7:45 am. The other two were up with the sun. But all were ready at 8:30 am.

The plan was to bushwhack up the hill east of Raven Pond to reach an old road. I'd failed to do that in 2019 when I stayed in the same area, due to the impenetrable foliage. The whole area has since been in a fire. As it turned out, we had little problem reaching the ridgeline in the morning. From there, we took the old road to a fence. I'd hiked to the opposite side of that fence the same year, so knew it would be smooth sailing afterwards.

We proceeded on a road that is no longer on the Coe map, nor open source maps, yet is completely passable and within the park. Apparently the park doesn't want to maintain it, which makes sense since--even during Backcountry Weekend--no one comes to Raven Pond! But it's a great route if your goal is the eastern edge of the park and you want to make a loop.

I had sent out several alternate routes we could take to ensure we stayed outside private property. They worked out well, although with some additional elevation gain. Long story short, we reached our boney destination without much distress. It was great weather for hiking: cool and overcast.

After tagging the summit, we went a short distance before Mihail wanted to take an unexpected break. Christina was happy to join in. I paced about waiting for them to consume their multi-course meals. Soon we were off and back to a less trodden locations. Two miles later, we split up. Mihail wanted to bag two more peaks, which I'd done back on that 2019 visit. I was more interested in new trail. Christina has yet to fully catch the peakbagging bug.

Christina and I headed down a different path (than we came up) to create a nice loop. For decades I've pointed out that people hike better alone than in groups, both faster and less prone to getting lost. As I chatted with Christina, I blew through a junction and headed downhill for a bit until my Spidey-sense kicked in that there should have been a turn. Alas! So back up the steep hill we hiked, adding another 150 ft of elevation to the hike. Fun!

We eventually reached County Line Road again and Henry Coe Park. Many ups and downs followed. We took one more unofficial trail before heading down the trail to Raven Pond. Christina mentioned she'd seen our tents from Deer Camp Trail the day before. I'd also hiked to Raven Pond from Deer Camp in 2019. So we decided to try a route from that trail since we'd have to bushwhack either way.

That worked out well except the last bit on the dam, which we knew would be an issue from the prior day's recon. Mihail was already there, enjoying our acrobatics as we wended around and over downed trees to reach camp.

Just like the prior day, we celebrated with beer and food. While there was 4.8k ft of elevation, it was spread out nicely, at a deliberate pace, making for a relatively easy hike.